People

Valerie Butt has been named head of Casualty for Zurich North America Commercial Insurance. Based in Chicago, Butt will lead the casualty business with responsibility for new and renewal business.

Butt takes on the role that was vacated when Brandon Fick was named chief underwriting officer for Zurich North America.

Since joining Zurich in 1997, Butt has held a number of leadership positions in underwriting, customer relationship and distribution teams in Commercial Insurance and Global Corporate. Most recently, she served as global head of Customer, Distribution and Market Management for Commercial Insurance.

Westfield Center, Ohio-based property/casualty insurer, Westfield, appointed Robyn Hahn as president of its Small Business unit.

Hahn more than 25 years of diverse experience in the insurance industry and has held senior leadership roles at national and international insurance carriers. She also has been an independent insurance agent and small business owner.

Her credentials span agency management, sales and distribution strategy and execution, digital and operations, and risk control functions. Prior to Westfield, Hahn served as chief marketing officer at two insurance industry Fortune Global 500 firms.

Traverse City, Michigan-based Hagerty promoted Collette “Coco” Champagne to chief operating officer. Champagne previously served as the insurer’s chief people officer.

Champagne joined Hagerty in 1999 as leader of the sales and service operation and was promoted to vice president of human resources in 2002.

In her new role, Champagne’s main priorities will be collaborating with senior executives to align all aspects of the company to its one-page plan, ensuring company operations remain rooted in its core values and vision for continued growth.

Champagne is the second woman COO in Hagerty history. According to a four-year market study by Saint Joseph’s University, women are under-represented in insurance industry upper management, occupying only 12 percent of C-suite positions.

Hagerty, a privately held company, provides specialty insurance to vintage vehicle enthusiasts. It employs more than 1,000 people worldwide, with offices in the United States, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

St. Louis, Missouri-based POWERS Insurance and Risk hired Shari Smith as commercial lines account manager.

Smith is responsible for the ongoing management of commercial clients, retaining new and renewal clients, and assisting the company’s producers in order to enhance business development.

She has nearly 10 years of insurance industry experience, as well as more than 20 years in customer relations and management in the automobile industry. She holds property/casualty and life/health insurance licenses, and is a Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR).

POWERS Insurance and Risk Management provides personal and business insurance, surety and risk management.

Patrick Muldowney has been elected president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois.

Chicago-based Muldowney will be responsible for the general leadership functions of the organization. He will also serve as a member of the six-person executive committee of the IIA of IL board of directors and will act as an official delegate at state and national functions.

Muldowney is first vice president and assistant general counsel with Alliant Insurance Services. He has 25 years of experience in the fields of law and insurance.

Muldowney, who has been a board member of IIA of IL since 2013, will serve a one-year term as president ending Sept. 30, 2019.

IIA of IL, headquartered in Springfield, has 1,100 member insurance agencies representing 10,000 licensed independent agents.

Automotive insurance telematics company, The Floow, hired Cindy Bylsma and Brian Mendralla in Detroit, Michigan, as business analysts.

Bylsma previously was a business analyst and applications support analyst in the supply chain management, food safety, higher education and healthcare industries. She has more than 20 years of experience in client management and working with technical teams to design and implement solutions.

Mendralla spent his seven years prior to The Floow at Modus where he worked as a senior project manager, launching insurance telematics and vehicle tracking solutions across the globe. Before that, he held multiple positions in the telecom and retail industries.

The Floow is based in Sheffield in the UK and Detroit in the U.S.